tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186943151460024364.post4845522679343425874..comments2022-04-10T05:33:30.555+00:00Comments on abegglen: First US officer since Vietnam goes on trial for speaking outAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08420372369853341267noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186943151460024364.post-3506372472045494952007-02-07T07:01:00.000+00:002007-02-07T07:01:00.000+00:00US refusenik officer calls Iraq war illegal
by Me...<b>US refusenik officer calls Iraq war illegal</b><br /><br /><i>by Melanthia Mitchell in Fort Lewis, Washington<br />Wednesday February 7, 2007, The Guardian</i> <br /><br /><br />An army lieutenant who said he refused to be deployed to Iraq because he believed the war was illegal will take the stand in his own defence, his lawyer said.<br /><br />1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada, 28, of Honolulu, is charged with refusing to join his unit and with conduct unbecoming an officer for accusing the army of war crimes and denouncing the administration for conducting an "illegal war" founded on "lies".<br /><br />As the court martial began on Monday, the military judge, Lieutenant Colonel John Head, excluded nearly all the planned defence witnesses. He had previously ruled that Lt Watada's lawyer, Eric Seitz, could not debate the Iraq war's legality in court.<br /><br />Mr Seitz said he planned to call Lt Watada and a character witness, an army captain who has known Lt Watada for about two years. The captain has been brought back from service in Iraq to testify. The court martial was to resume yesterday.<br /><br />Although other officers have refused to go to Iraq, Lt Watada, who is a member of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, is the first to be court martialled. In 2005, Sergeant Kevin Benderman got 13 months in prison and was given a dishonourable discharge after refusing to go to Iraq.<br /><br />Army prosecutors argue that Lt Watada's behaviour endangered the mission and morale of soldiers in Iraq. He faces four years in prison and a dishonourable discharge.<br /><br />Outside the army base, a small group, including the actor Sean Penn, demonstrated in support of Lt Watada. A few demonstrated against him; one man carried a sign calling Lt Watada a "weasel".<br /><br />Lt Watada, who joined the army in March 2003, has called the Iraq war "a horrible breach of American law" and said he had a duty to refuse illegal orders.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com